Tuesday, February 18, 2003 :::

 

Well I thought it was time to make a serious post since I neglected to make one last night. Oh - the funniest thing happened today.
We're doing our medication administration lab at school right now. It's called the PCCL - Pharmacy Critical Competanct Lab - and we have to do it 100% correct or we fail. Well, not fail, excactly. If you do it perfect the first time you get a 100; if you screw up the first time but do it perfect the second time you get an 85; if you screw up the first two times but get it right the third time you get a 77, and if you screw it up all three times then you fail the lab ,', you fail the class ,', you fail out of nursing school - which is crazy bad, btw.
There are 2 parts to the lab, the PO (oral meds) part and the SC (sub-q injections) part. You have to pass the PO part before you can go on to the SC part. And both halves count as one, so if you pass the PO part and then fail the SC part you get knocked down to the next grade (assuming you pass the SC part the next time). So it's kinda tense around school right now.
Anyhow... I had to do my lab this morning. By the grace of God I managed to complete the PO portion correctly so I got to go on to the SC part of the lab. The SC part of the lab consists of 3 parts - 1 insulin question, 1 heparin question, and then drawing up 1 combo of insulin.
I drew a heparin question first - Do you aspirate? The answer's no, and I got that right. So far so good. Then I drew my insulin question - What is the action of regular insulin? Now I stood there and didn't have a clue what the question was asking. You know how you wig out if the question's too easy? Well I was standing there thinking "this is some backwater community college" but at the same time "that's still too easy." So I tried to ask my instructor what she was looking for and she said that she can't answer any questions. I tried to find out if they were looking for pharmodynamics or pharmokinetics or what, but all she kept saying was that she couldn't answer any questions. So I was standing there thinking and all and I just couldn't figure out what they wanted. So I kinda shrug **irl, mind you** and just say "helps metabolize glucose." And now guess what she said.
*giggling*
"That's true, but that's not what I'm looking for. YOU FAILED."
Thought that was some poetic justice.
*sigh*
No worries, though. I passed it the second time around... for a grand total of 85.
*shrug*
::: posted by tinafish at 5:17 PM :::